Mojo

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For other uses, see Mojo (disambiguation).

Mojo (pronounced [ˌməʊdʒəʊ]) is a term commonly encountered in the African-American folk belief called hoodoo. A mojo is a small bag, a type of magic charm, often of red flannel cloth and tied with a drawstring, containing botanical, zoological, and/or mineral curios, petition papers, and the like. It is typically worn under clothing.

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[edit] Terminology and manner of use

The word Mojo traces its origins to Africa and entered the English language during the era of slavery in the USA. It has been widely known from the 19th century and early 20th century to the present. Other regional names for mojo bags, or for specific types of mojos, include gree-gree (a Bantu word typically spelled gris-gris by people in Louisiana because of the state's francophone origins), mojo hand, conjure bag, conjure hand, toby, jomo, and nation sack. In Haiti, the usual name for this sort of charm bag among those of African descent is a wanga, oanga, or wanger.

Mojo hands are carried for their supernatural powers, such as protecting from evil or crossed conditions, drawing love, or bringing good luck or success in gambling and other money matters. A mojo bag can also be prepared for use in more nefarious spell-craft, such as to render a man impotent by tying his nature. The mojo bag usually contains a mix of herbs, powders, personal concerns such as a hair or fingernail clippings, sometimes a coin or dice, a lodestone, a petition paper or prayer, and other objects thought to promote supernatural action or protection. The tying of the bag is an important part of its making, as this keeps within it the spirit whose aid is being sought. Once thus fixed and prepared, the mojo is fed to keep it working, generally with a liquid, such as a perfume, an anointing oil, or, in some cases, a drop of urine.

References to mojos, nation sacks, and tobies are common in 20th century rural and urban blues songs by musicians such as Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, the Memphis Jug Band, Muddy Waters, and Lightnin' Hopkins. Some of the earlier blues tunes were covered by white rock & roll bands in the 1960s and beatboxers in the 2006s. The tunes thus reached audiences unfamiliar with the folk beliefs referred to in the lyrics of the songs.

The exposure of uninformed audiences to the word mojo led to misunderstanding and additional uses of the word, usually to refer to male virility, libido, or the penis. This misunderstanding was popularized by Jim Morrison of The Doors, who named himself "Mr. Mojo Risin" — an anagram of Jim Morrison — in the song "L.A. Woman". This usage of the word was turned to comedy in the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, in which the title character has his mojo stolen, and loses his confidence and sexual prowess.

Some other slang meanings of mojo in common use include: charisma, karma, cocaine and thing (as in "Gimme that mojo!").

Despite these variant usages, the word mojo continues to be widely used to mean what it always has meant in the African-American community -- namely, a conjure hand.

[edit] The many types of mojo hands

Mojos are made for all sorts of purposes, many of them documented in blues music:

  • In "Spider's Nest Blues" by Hattie Hart and the Memphis Jug Band, Hart wants to go to New Orleans to get her toby (mojo) "fixed" because she is "having so much trouble" -- the mojo is protective and its power is wearing off, as witnessed by the "bad luck" she is having.
  • In "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin' Hopkins, the singer complains about a woman who is "always raising sand" (causing arguments and fights) and he wants to get a mojo hand so that the women will "come under [his] command" -- in other words, he wants to rule, control, and dominate a woman instead of being the target of her bickering...or at least influence her to be more subdued.
  • In "Louisiana Hoo Doo Blues" by Ma Rainey, the mojo is protective of an established love relationship and the singer is going to Lousiana to get a mojo hand because she's "gotta stop these women from taking my man."
  • In "Little Queen of Spades" by Robert Johnson, the woman has a mojo and uses it to gamble at cards and win, and the mojo explains her otherwise inexplicable winning streak: "everybody says she's got a mojo, 'cause she's been using that stuff".
  • In "Hoodoo Hoodoo" by John Lee Sonny Boy Williamson I, the mojo is used to break up a menage a trois: "I'm goin' down into Louisiana and buy me another mojo hand, all because I got to break up my baby from lovin' this other man."
  • In "Mojo Boogie" by J. B. Lenoir, the narrator is given a jack (mojo) by his aunt but doesn't know how to use it: "I got one jack, sure is crazy / My aunt forgot to teach me, just how to operate it / I went to a night club, I was squeezing it tight / I believe that's the cause of them people's start to fight ." The mojo in this case causes people to quarrel.
  • In "Hoodoo Lady Blues" by Arthur Crudup, the mojo is again protective of a relationship by causing a break-up with an outside lover. The narrator asks, "please give me a hoodoo hand; I wanna hoodoo this woman of mine, I believe she's got another man." As with Lightnin' Hopkins, what bothers the man is not sexual, rather it is the woman's argumentativeness: "Now, she squabbles all night long, she won't let me sleep / Lord, I wonder what in the world this woman done done to me."
  • In several songs -- notably "Scarey Day Blues," "Talkin' to Myself," and "Ticket Agent Blues" all by Blind Willie McTell -- a woman has "got a mojo and she's tryin' to keep it hid." The hidden mojo is a metaphor for her hidden genitals and the male singer says that he's "got something to find that mojo with." The bag or purse-like mojo symbolizes female genitalia, and in this sexualized sense, mojos are more often associated with women than with men. Preston Foster's "I've got my mojo working but it just don't work on you" was not intended as a song for Muddy Waters, and the first recording of that song was by a woman, Ann Cole.

[edit] References in popular music

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] External source

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